The use of paving stones placed on a mortar bed, a sand or gravel foundation or other suitable supporting surfaces is known for forming various paved surfaces such as roads, driveways, patios and the like. Typically the paved surface is formed by preparing the paving stones off site in a factory, transporting the cured stones to the paving site, and then manually placing the paving stones individually on a prepared foundation bed. The additional steps of manufacturing and transporting of the paving stones and the subsequent manual labor required for installation results in paved surfaces formed with paving stones being very costly in comparison to paved surface formed as a single slab poured on site for example.
In an effort to make the installation of paving stones more efficient, U.S. Pat. No. 2,184,906 by Buhrmann proposes a machine for assisting the placement of paving stones on a prepared mortar bed. The machine only assists in placing previously prepared stones so that the offsite manufacture and transportation of the paving stones is still quite costly compared to many other types of paved surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,990 by Kalns, U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,617 by Dick Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,431 by Colvard, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,377,719 disclose various devices for paving and related castings. The devices rely on a slip-form in each instance such that the devices are not suitable for preparing individual paving stones as desired in many instances.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,991 by Clark et al discloses a roadway marking machine in which markers are formed in respective disposable molds on a mobile frame. The molds are required to be left in placed when the markers are deposited on the roadway. Accordingly the roadway marking machine would not be suitable for use in forming paving stones as the placement of the paving stones directly adjacent one another would prevent the subsequent removal of the disposable molds described.